A funeral of errors

I was recently in the Village to attend the funeral of my brother-in-law Edward F. Patterson. [A local funeral home] handled the service and burial.

I write this only to bring to the attention of other residents the errors that took place so they may think twice when they choose a funeral home.

First of all, my sister’s name was misspelled. It was sent to the church for the bulletin and to all newspaper obituaries as "Caroline." Her name was Kaye.

Second, the hearse would not start and the pallbearers (who are not kids) had to walk the coffin to the burial site.

Next, [the reverend] gave a prayer at the burial site and friends began leaving.

The family stayed while they lifted the coffin into the mausoleum. The gentlemen who had been hired by the funeral home did not have the courtesy to stand behind the tomb at the service, but were in sight all the time in their work clothes. So they became an uninvited part of the final service.

The final insult came when one of the staff came to the children of Ed Patterson and asked if they wanted the ashes of his wife to be placed in the coffin or separate. They clearly answered separate. Since the burial place had been purchased, they understood from their father that there was room for both the coffin and the urn of ashes of their mother.

What transpired was horrifying when, as they tried to push the urn of ashes into the space, at one point the urn dropped onto the ground. It was evident that the space was not sufficient, although all these years this was the burial plan. The family left rather than watch the irreverent proceedings.

To this day, we do not know what the final placement was and the funeral home has not offered to tell us.

A burial is an exorbitant expense and comes at a most sensitive time. Unfortunately, it is my opinion that this service was not carried out as the children contracted.